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Asya Branch, a University of Mississippi student from Booneville, was crowned Miss USA on Monday after the coronavirus pandemic delayed the event by months. She will represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant.
Branch shared her historic victory with Miss Teen USA 2020 Ki’ilani Arruda, only the second Hawaiian woman to win the teenage contest.
From the stage of the Graceland Exhibition Center in Memphis, Tennessee, Branch answered questions about how to repair the polarized country (restore trust in institutions like the media and government, she said) and gun laws (Her family owns guns, she said, but more people should learn how to use them safely before getting their licenses.)
In an interview with Miss Mississippi USA, Branch revealed that her father had been in jail for 10 years. Her experience inspired her to advocate for criminal justice reform, and in 2018 she met with President Donald Trump and other officials to discuss measures to help reintegrate former prisoners into society. after their release.
“I learned a lot about myself, but at the same time, while sharing my story and going through so much but without letting myself stop, I was able to heal while helping others find their way”, a she said September interview.
The competition was originally scheduled for spring 2020 but, like many other large-scale events around this time, was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Resuming production this fall, the Miss Universe organization that runs Miss USA followed certain coronavirus protocols: Contestants wore jewelry-adorned masks when off the stage and when visiting sites such as the National Civil Rights Museum, and members of the public in Graceland were required to wear masks indoors and submit to temperature checks, according to the Graceland facility did not mention social distancing within the facility in its protocols Covid-19.
Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA 2019, was in attendance for Branch’s coronation.
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